Digital signature authentication is becoming more important as more people conduct business electronically. For example, when electronically banking, electronically filing taxes, and when entering contracts over the internet, a digital signature may be collected and authenticated.
Researchers and vendors have been working to find ways to authenticate digital signatures, and to verify that those signatures have been validly collected. Signatures can be collected using pen tablets such as those commercially available from Interlink Electronics of Camarillo, Calif., and Wacom Colo. Ltd., of Vancouver Wash. These pen tablets, and other similar devices, collect a signature shape for recording by using a pressure sensitive tablet. Some pens are tethered, and some are not. Typically, the tablet is connected to a port on a computer, and the shape of the signature is sent from the tablet to the computer through the port.
Authentication is typically limited to the data that is collected at the time of the signature. For example, signature shapes collected using pen tablets are typically compared against known shapes to determine authenticity. The above techniques and products notwithstanding, digital signatures are still fairly easily forged, in part because the shape of the signature is often the only criteria collected, and therefore the only criteria used for authentication.
For the reasons stated above, and for other reasons stated below which will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon reading and understanding the present specification, there is a need in the art for an alternate methods and apparatus for digital signature collection and authentication.